Garment press



July- 14, 1931. J. CARD GARMENT PRESS Filed May 28, 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet.l

J. L. CARD 14,665

GARMENT PRESS Filed May 28, 1929' July-14, 1931. 1L, mg) 1,814,665

GARMENT PRESS FiledMay 28, 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet, 4.

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3] vwwwtoz J65]? L. 62270 Patented July 14, 1931 UNITED" STATES PATENTOFFICE J HN L. CARD, or BALTIMORE,- vrA yLANn, ASSIGNOR To UNITED sTATEsHOFFMAN MAeHINERY CORPORATION, OF NEW YoRK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OEDELAWARE GARMENT rR s's Application filed May 28,

dition is, of course, dependent on the with.

lfi'drawal of the hands.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a clutch orinterconnection between the power mechanism andthe press head,

means being associated with the clutch to prevent clutching actionexcept when the press head has been lowered to contact the goods on thelower press element or buck.

It is also an object of the invention so to construct the clutch 'thatitis automatically disengaged when maximumpower is applied, theapplication of power being mamtained' as long as desired. Theclutch-parts may then be reengaged to return the press head to normalposition. The clutch per se 7 isthe subject'matterof copending'applicationqserialNumber 365,404, filed May 23, 1929, by John-L. Card. 7

Reference to the following description and the*appended.drawings willenable a'clear understanding of the invention to be had:

Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in sec; tion, of a garment pressshowing the relation of the clutch mechanism to the press when thelatter is open;

, Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 except that the press is closed andthe clutch is in position to permit application of power; Fig. 3 is afront elevation, partly in secti0n,-taken on line3-3 of Fig. 5;

Fig, 4 is a topsectional view taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a side sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 3; and 1 I iFig. 6 is a perspective view of the clutch,

The sleevelikewise has a reduced portion 31 1929. Serial No. 366,693.

theparts being separated for clearness of illustration.

'Referring to the drawings, the I garment press illustrated is of thattype in which a movable press head 11 is adapted to be swung 5downwardly into pressing relation with a fixed press element or buck12.The head 11 is fixed to a lever 13 fulcrumed intermediate its ends, asat 14, to a press frame 15. Toggle mechanism comprising the links 16,17, is employed for exerting pressure on the lever, a connecting rod 18being associated with the power mechanism for this purpose. Springs 19,only one of which is shown, connect the lever 13 with the press frameand tend to maintain the lever in raised or open position. The abovedescribed parts are of the usual construction and relation and theirdetails require no further explanation.

- The power mechanism and the'clutch for connecting the toggle theretoare illustrated in detail in Figs. 3 and 4. A driving shaft 21,connected to and continuously rotated by a motor 22, is provided nearone end with a worm 23 meshing with worm gear 24. Coaxially aligned withthe worm gear, but rotatable with respect thereto, is a driven shaft 25having a crank portion 25. Shaft 25 is journaled in a boss 26 on thehousing 27 and has a reduced portion-28 fitting within a sleeve 29. so

journaled ina boss 32 in the housing cover 33. The worm gear 24andsleeve 29 are fixed with respect toeach other, a key or othersuitable fastening means 30 holding the worm gear to the sleeve. It isto be noted that shaft 25 and sleeve 29 mutually support each other,thus dispensing with intermediate bearings, but the sleeve is free torotate on the shaft.

One end of sleeve 29 is enlarged and milled to provide a number ofratchet teeth 34 adapted to cooperate with a pawl member 35 on plate 36.This plate has a hub portion 36' which is keyed to. shaft 25, so thatwhen thepawl -35engages the teeth 34 on the sleeve 29, the shaft 25rotates with worm gear 24. The pawl is fastened intermediate its ends toa pin 37 rotatabl supported in place 36 and in the segmental member 38fastened to the plate, the pawl being supported between the plate andsegment to minimize the danger of shearing the pin when the clutch isthrown in. Spring 39, fastened at one end to plate 36 and at its otherend to a disk 40 secured to pin 37 and bearing against an annular flange41 on the plate 36, normally tends to rotate the pawl to engagingposition with respect to ratchet teeth 24. Mounted in a forked endportion 42 of the pawl is a cam follower 43 which rides on the innerperiphery of an annular cam ring 44, which, as illustrated best in Fig.6, has two spaced high surfaces ab, c-d, and a corresponding number oflow portions or valleys bc da, designed to raise or lower the engagingend of the pawl with respect to the teeth 34.

The outer periphery 45 of the ring is concentric with the shaft 15 andis mounted in the housing 27 to provide a. sliding fit therein."

Lateral displacement of the ring is prevented by an annular flange 46 on.the housing and segments 47 removably secured to the housing by screws48. The cam ring is shiftable circumferentially with respect to thehousing, the means for shifting the ring comprising a forked rocker arm49 cooperating with pin 51 on the ring. The rocker shaft 52 is journaledin the housing, as shown in Fig. 5, and

abutment 59 on the housing, thereby limiting the circumferential slidingmovement of the cam ring.

The operation of the press will be apparent if it is firstassumed thatthe press is open as shown in Fig. 1. It will be noted that in thisposition the cam follower 43 corresponds with the point a on theshiftable cam ring (see Fig. 6). Since the pawl is secured to the plate36, which in turn is keyed to shaft 25, it will be moved'to theposit-ion indicated in Fig. 2 when the press head is lowered by hand topreliminary pressing position, the shaft 25 being rotated due to itsconnection with toggle link 17. The roller 43 does not, however, reachthe point I) on the cam and cannot, therefore, permit the pawl to rockinto engagement with teeth 34. To throw the pawl into engaging relationwith the teeth it is necessary to shift the camringuntil the recess orvalley b0 underlies the cam follower and this is done by depressinglever 55 to rock the shifting fork 49 to the position indicated bydotted lines in Fig. 3. It is to be understood that shifting of the ringalone will not throw the pawl into engagement with the teeth 34, itbeing first necessary to F position pawl 35 with reference to the pointZ) of the cam, the distance between the roller and point 5 when thepress is preliminarily closed being slightly less than the distancethrough which the cam may be shifted.

When the roller drops into the depression 12-0, the pawl engages theteeth 34 and the driving and driven shafts are coupled so that the crankarm 25 is rotated to bring the connecting rod 18 to a horizontalposition, at which time the toggle is straightened and maximum pressureapplied. It is apparent that crank 25 and arm 18 are in alignment inthis latter position, that is the crank is on dead center. Since thespring 56 tends to turn the cam ring in a counter-clockwise direction,the ring tends to follow the roller '43. The shoulder 58 on the ringlimits the return movement of the cam, however, and brings the ring torest in a position at which the cam surface c-cl will engage theroller43 simultaneously with the application of maximum pressure, that is,when the crank 25 is on dead center. Pawl 35 is therefore disengagedduring the application of maximum pressure;

lVhen it is desired to break the toggle the cam ring is again shiftedbydepressing lever 55. The high portion cd of the cam is substantiallythe length of the shifting movement of the ring and as the ring isshifted in a clockwise direction roller 43 will drop into the depressioncZa. This latter depres sion is sufiic'iently long to permit engagementof the pawl and teeth until the press is fully open when the pawl willagain be disengaged by coaction of the follower and cam surface a b. Theabove described cycle is repeated for each pressing operation.

It is obvious that the actuation ofthe .clutch is dependent on thepreliminary closing of the'press and that there is no danger of thepower being applied while the operators hands are between the pressingelements. It is likewise obvious that maximum pressure may be appliedfor any desired period and that the clutch is easily controlled by theoperator. While the mechanism illustrated is simple of construction anda preferred form of the invention, it is susceptible of modification andmaybe changed to meet the requirements of the service imposed upon it. ihat is claimed is: r

1. In a garment press, the combination of a fixed pressing element; amovable element adapted to be moved into pressing relation with saidfixed element by the operator; .constantly operated power means; crankmeans connected to said movable element for applying pressurethereto;clutch means for connecting said power means to said pressure applyingmeans, said clutch means being connected to said crank means androtatable therewith; means constantly urging said clutch means towardsengaging position;

means normally holding saidclutch means in disconnected position; andoperator operated means for shifting said holding means to permit saidurging means. to effect actuation of said clutch means only when saidelements are in pressing relation to apply heavy pressure and upon asubsequent operation of the operator operated means .to open the press.

2. In a garment press, the combination of a fixed pressing element; amovable element adapted to be moved into pressing relation with saidfixed element by the operator; constantly operated power means; meansconnected to said movable element for applying pressure thereto; apawlon said pressure applying means; a toothed member on the power meansand adapted to engage said pawl; means constantly urging said pawl intoengagement with said toothed member; shiftable cam means for holdingsaid pawl out of engagement with said toothed member during apredetermined movement ofsaid movable element; and means for shiftingsaid cam; said pawl and toothed member. engaging each other only aftersaid predetermined movement of the movable pressing element and shiftingof the cam to apply heavy pressure, being disengaged during applicationof heavy pressure, and thereafter being reengaged by a subsequentshifting of the cam means to open the press. I

3. In a garment press, the combination of a fixed pressing element; amovable element adapted to be moved into pressing relation with saidfixed element by the operator; con- 7 stantly operated power means;means connected to said movable element for applying pressure thereto; apawl on said pressure applying means; a toothed member on said powermeans and adapted to engage said pawl; means constantly urging said pawltowards engaging position; a shiftable ring; means on said ring forholding said pawl out of engagement with said toothed member during apredetermined movementof said movable pressing element; means forshifting said ring; means on said ring'for disengaging the pawl from thetoothed member after a predetermined engagementthereof; and othervmeanson said ring to permit said urging means to effect engagement ofthe pawland toothed memberfo-r. opening the press when said cam isagain shift'eI 4. In a garment press, the combination of a fixed pressing element; amovable element adapted to be moved into pressing relation with saidfixed element by the operator; constantly operated power means; meanscon- 60 nected to said movable element for applying pressure thereto; apawl on said pressure applying means; a toothed member on saidpowermeans andadapted to engage said pawl; means constantly urging saidpawl towards engaging position; a shiftable ring, 7

heavy pressure, and engageable with the toothed member when overlyingthe other space between the surfaces to open the press; and means forshifting the ring to permit engagement of the pawl and toothed member.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

JOHN L. CARD.

